Leicester Squash Club

This book tells the story of Leicester Squash Club, designed to be one of the leading squash establishments in Europe. Built in Art Deco style in 1936 as a state-of-the-art, four-court facility with an integral bar and viewing gallery, this iconic club now celebrates its first seventy-five years by adding new championship courts and a gym to the existing playing capacity. This history of the club mirrors the changing social and sporting developments of the city and county and charts the extraordinary expansion of a game which, at its peak, was said to be played by 7% of the country's adult population.

The sweep of the book takes readers from the off-court excesses of rugger playboy and former Tigers player Prince Obelensky, famed for his part in defeating the All Blacks, through the swimming-pool parties enjoyed by the American forces stationed in Leicester during the war, to the exhibition matches by visiting world champions. It charts the fascinating life and times of this unique sporting club and its nationally and internationally ranked players. World class professional Yusuf Khan, world amateur champion Michael Oddy and record-breaking, thirteen-time county champion Ian Turley all feature in this journey through the world of top-ranking squash players that have been based at the Club over so many years.

This is not just a book about squash, but a social and sporting history of the changing times that turned a game, formerly enjoyed by only public school and military institutions, into a national sport. Leicester Squash Club: The First Seventy-Five Years will be a valuable addition to the records of life in Leicester over the past seven decades.